When Tony asked to schedule a Zoom meeting so we could record some video messages, I was, of course, happy to oblige and quick to ask if he’d like to record a brief Christmas greeting to all of his and the Campolo Center’s friends and supporters.
What I thought would be a two-minute soundbite, turned out to be one of the most beautiful and profound Christmas homilies I’ve ever heard, where Tony eloquently and compellingly preaches about the revolutionary significance of the Christmas story, the incarnation of Christ in the world, and in us.
Of God Emmanuel. God with us.
While Tony is still recovering from his stroke – which has resulted in pronounced Bell’s Palsy and impaired speech – this is quintessential Tony preaching… the prophetic voice calling and challenging Christians and the Church to faithfully follow Jesus and participate in the work of making God’s Kingdom known on earth as it is in heaven.
In the midst of the recording, we experienced technical difficulties while Tony was reciting one of his favorite Christmas poems by one of his favorite poets, Lawrence Ferlinghetti. We segment the video and provide the text of the poem between parts II and IV of Tony’s sermon. (Don’t forget to scroll down for the last video.) As you and your loved ones remember and celebrate the birth of Jesus, the newborn King, I hope you’re as inspired, encouraged, and challenged by Tony’s Christmas sermon as I have been.
On behalf of Tony, Peggy, the Campolo Scholars, and all of us at Eastern University’s Campolo Center for Ministry, we wish you a joyful and holy Christmas.
Part III (text): Christ Climbed Down by Lawrence Ferlinghetti
Christ Climbed down
from His bare Tree
this year
and ran away to where
there were no rootless Christmas trees
hung with candy canes and breakable stars
Christ Climbed down
from His bare Tree
this year
and ran away to where
there were no gilded Christmas trees
and no tinsel Christmas trees
and no tinfoil Christmas trees
and no pink plastic Christmas trees
and no black Christmas trees
and no powder blue Christmas trees
hung with electric candles
and encircled by tin electric trains
and clever cornball relatives
Christ Climbed down
from His bare Tree
this year
and ran away to where
no intrepid Bible salesman
covered the territory
in two-tone cadillacs
and where no Sears Roebuck creches
complete with plastic babe in manger
arrived by parcel post
the babe by special delivery
and where no televisied Wise Men
praised the Lord Calvert Whiskey
Christ climbed down
from His bare Tree
this year and ran away to where
no fat handshaking stranger
in a red flannel suit
and a fake white beard
went around passing himself off
as some sort of North Pole saint
crossing the desert to Bethlehem
Pennsylvania
in a Volkswagon sled
drawn by rollicking Adirondack reindeer
with German names
and bearing sacks of Humble Gifts
from Saks Fifth Avenue
for everybody’s imagined Christ child
Christ Climbed down
from His bare Tree
this year
and ran away to where
no Bing Crosby Carollers
groaned of a tight Christmas
and where no Radio City angels
ice-skated wingless
thru a winter wonderland
into a jingle bell heaven
daily at 8:30
with Midnight Mass matinees
Christ Climbed Down
from His bare Tree
this year
and softly stole away into
some anonymous Mary’s womb again
where in the darkest night
of everybody’s anonymous soul
He awaits again
an unimaginable
and impossibly
Immaculate Reconception
the very craziest
of Second Comings.
